Three Republican state representatives have banded together to introduce a bill to end the state's use of photo-enforcement systems on Arizona highways, calling a press conference Jan. 14 to announce the measure's filing and to blast the plan as a pet project of exiting Gov. Janet Napolitano.

Rep. Sam Crump, a Republican from Anthem who chairs the House Government Committee, said the state's introduction of photo enforcement on highways have become the top concern of residents in his district and that the motivation behind the 2008 introduction of the systems was purely financial.

"My constituents are telling me that they find photo radar to be intrusive, they find it annoying and in many instances the find it to be actually dangerous," Crump said. "Arizona has a proud heritage of leaving its citizens alone."

Crump was joined by Rep. Rich Crandall, a Republican from Mesa who is chairman of the House Education Committee, and Transportation Committee Chairman Rep. Andy Biggs, a Republican from Gilbert.

Biggs urged citizens to ignore state photo-enforcement tickets and to levy court challenges if they are given the tickets in person by process servers.

"You get a notice of violation, don't pay it," he said. "It's not a citation."

State authority to implement the photo-enforcement cameras on Arizona highways was bundled into the 2009 fiscal year budget that was supported last session by Napolitano and passed by the Legislature. At the time it was proposed, Napolitano predicted the program's implementation would increase highway safety and add up to $90 million to state coffers in the 2009 fiscal year.

Ever since the legislation passed, lawmakers have lashed out at the way the photo-enforcement plan was attached to last year's budget legislation, which effectively allowed the program to bypass debate or tailoring in committee meetings and floor sessions.

Crump said opponents of the statewide photo-enforcement system were powerless to remove it from the overall budget, which passed in the "waning hours" of the 2008 legislative session.

Biggs said the Department of Public Safety's decision to issue tickets to people caught driving more than 10 miles per hour faster than the speed limit creates an unconstitutional clash with existing speed laws.

"This is serious and it smacks of authoritarianism," Biggs said.

The passing of Crump's proposal would terminate the photo-enforcement program operated by the Department of Public Safety, which has contracted with Scottsdale-based RedFlex Traffic systems to introduce 100 fixed- and mobile-camera systems.

The second-term lawmaker said the bill avoids governing the use of speed and red-light enforcement systems by cities out of respect for local control.

DPS Lt. James Warriner said the department has recorded reduced traveling speeds and fewer accidents and traffic fatalities since the program's implementation, but he acknowledged concerns that other factors, such as fewer vehicle miles driven, could be a factor.

The department operates the systems to comply with state law, he said.

"That's what we're going to do until we're told differently."

Crump said he has bipartisan support for the ban, adding that he also would back a ballot referendum to put the future of state highway photo-enforcement systems in citizens' hands in 2010.

Jeanine L'Ecuyer, a Napolitano spokeswoman, reiterated the office's long-standing policy of refusing to comment on pending legislation and added she was not sure if the governor, who is preparing for confirmation hearings to assume control of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, was aware of the proposal.

L'Ecuyer said the DPS study indicated the program "seems to be effectively slowing people down" and has contributed to a "significant decrease" in accidents and fatalities.

The lawmakers' announcement came one day after a press conference on the Capitol lawn organized by opponents of photo enforcement who are circulating petitions for a ballot initiative to remove the cameras from state highways.

Paul Babeu, the newly elected sheriff of Pinal County, became the first to sign the petition.

Babeu and Sens. Russell Pearce and Ron Gould joined members of the CameraFraud.com organization on the Senate lawn following the governor's State of the State address and just minutes after Republican lawmakers spoke members of the press about the state's ever-increasing deficit.

The root of the organization's argument was clear, as members displayed signs and banners equating ticket fees required as a result of a motorist being tagged by a photo-enforcement device to an unfair tax.

The Arizona Constitution requires a two-thirds majority vote by the Legislature to enact a new tax. The state's photo enforcement measures were through an executive order made by Gov. Janet Napolitano.

"Photo enforcement is a fraud," Shawn Dow, spokesman for the organization, said. "They have violated our constitution in order to take your money."

Babeu, whose anti-photo radar enforcement platform helped win him the election, also added public safety to the list of things Napolitano's photo enforcement measures put at risk.

"This is an issue that the other side tries to make only about safety," he said. "But it is corrupting to law enforcement when we are the point for Redflex (Traffic Systems), or any agency that is a for-profit, to say this is about public safety."

Babeu said traffic accidents have improved by 16 percent in Pinal County, despite initial claims that photo enforcement measures had reduced the number of accidents by 56 percent in the same county.

"I am telling you this as a cop, as a sheriff," Babeu said. "If you are driving down the road and see a photo camera, people slam on their breaks and they get rear ended. This is where we have seen an increase in traffic accidents in Pinal County."

More than 600 signatures were collected by the end of Jan. 12. The organization hopes to attain an addition 400 signatures by the end of January.

The group has until July 1, 2010 to collect 153,000 signatures from registered voters in order for their institutive to appear on the Nov. 2010 ballot.